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Residents recall frightful Hill District fire as man jumps to death to escape

One was a 60-year-old man, while the other remains unidentified.

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Updated: 5:11 PM EDT Jun 5, 2017

Residents recall frightful Hill District fire as man jumps to death to escape

One was a 60-year-old man, while the other remains unidentified.

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Updated: 5:11 PM EDT Jun 5, 2017

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WEBVTT RAYMOND'S LIVEWITH MORE ON HOW ONE NEIGHBORREACHED INTO HELP.ALYSSA: THIS FIRE STARTEDSHORTLY AFTER 3:00, AND WE ARETOLD MULTIPLE PEOPLE JUMPED FROMTHEIR APARTMENT WINDOWS ANDSURVIVED.ONE WOMAN WHO LIVES IN THEBUILDING NEXT DOOR SAYS SHE SAWPOLICE TRIED TO GRAB THOSE BINSYOU ARE LOOKING AT A BRACE THEIRFALL.SHE RUSHED TO DO SOMETHINGSIMILAR.>> WE WERE IN BED WHEN WE HEARDSHOUTING FROM THE WINDOW, HELP.ALYSSA: CLAUDETTE RANDOWNSTAIRS, LOOKED OUTSIDE, ANDWATCHED SOMEONE JUMP OUT OF THEWINDOW IN HER APARTMENTBUILDING.>> I WENT INSIDE TO GET AMATTRESS I HAD IN THE BASEMENT.ALYSSA: BUT WILLIAMS ENDED UPBEING TOO LATE.>> THE THIRD PERSON JUMPED FROMTHE HALLWAY TO THE ATTIC ONTOTHE PAVEMENT, HIT HIS HEA, ANDHE WENT SIDEWAYS LIKE THAT ONTHE GROUND.ALYSSA: THAT MAN DIED AT THESCENE.FIREFIGHTERS DISCOVERED ANOTHERPERSON DIED INSIDE THE APARTMENTBUILDING.PARAMEDI TOOK THREE OTHERS TOTHE HOSPITAL.THEY ALSO TRANSPORTED AFIREFIGHTER WITH MINOR INJURIES.>> HE FELL THROUGH THE ROOF UPTO HIS WAIST.>> THE SMOKE CONTAMINATED THEWHOLE PLACE.ALYSSA: SMOKE AND PANIC LINGEREDIN THE 2400 BLOCK OF WYLIEAVENUE LONG AFTER THE FIRESTARTED.>> TERROR, FEAR.>> I AM PRAYING FOR THEM.IT'S VERY HURTFUL, AND I'M SORRYFOR WHAT HAPPENED.IF I COULD'VE HELPED AND DOSOMETHING, I WOULD HAVE RUN TOTHEIR RESCUE.ALYSSA: THE RED CROSS AND THESALVATION ARM SHOWED UP TOHELP.WE ARE TOLD THE RED CROSS ISASSISTING AT LEAST EIGHT PEOPLE.THE CAUSE OF THE FIRE REMAINSUNDER INVESTIGATION.

Residents recall frightful Hill District fire as man jumps to death to escape

One was a 60-year-old man, while the other remains unidentified.

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Updated: 5:11 PM EDT Jun 5, 2017

PITTSBURGH —

Najee Richards lived with his mother and aunt next door to the three-story apartment building that caught fire early Sunday morning.

They all raced outside to safety. " I was playing video games in my room and I heard screams for, 'Help, help, help, get out, get out,'" Richards said.

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Richards said a neighbor across the street, named Denise, described the disturbing images of residents trying to jump to safety, landing on the cement sidewalk from two and three stories above. "By the time I turned around and looked up, I saw two more people jump out the window. It was crazy-like," Denise said.

Denise said she saw a Zone 2 police officer drag a tool shed under the windows, to break the fall of residents who were trying to jump to safety. "They were partially landing on it. They were partially hitting the storage shed and then hitting the ground."He was here by himself and he did the best he could do until someone else came onto the scene. I was definitely proud. He was very brave," Denise said.

The fire in the Hill District row house on Wylie Avenue killed two people and injured four others, including a Pittsburgh firefighter who fell through the roof.

The fire was reported shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday in the 2400 block of Wylie Avenue in the Middle Hill. Upon arrival, police officers found that people were trapped on the upper floors.

The Public Safety Department said a man was pronounced dead at the scene after jumping from the house. The medical examiner identified him as Lonnie Davis, 60, of Sheraden.

The body of the second victim has not yet been identified. That person was found dead inside the house.

Four people were taken to hospitals: a man in critical condition, a woman and another man in stable condition and a firefighter who suffered minor injuries after falling through a roof.